I met my beautiful bride Melissa when I went to shoot Robert & Patricia’s wedding in Las Vegas last year. She was Patricia’s maid of honor. And, like most destination weddings, we all got pretty tight from spending so much time together. When Melissa got engaged, she contacted me about shooting her small intimate wedding at the Fort Worth Courthouse. I was thrilled 🙂 Shooting a Justice of the Peace wedding was on my photography bucket list 🙂

What I didn’t know was how FABULOUS the judge, courthouse workers and the security were going to be. I arrived at the courthouse and brought in minimal gear, being unsure of what they would allow through security and what rules I would have to follow. I spoke to security when I arrived and asked about bringing in my softbox and light stand and they said it was perfectly fine.

When the judge came in to start the ceremony, he asked me if I was the photographer and I told him, “yes sir”. He then told me that I could go anywhere in the room, including up next to him. So, I went up in the “witness” area and he said, “You can come on up here (pointing RIGHT next to him). I hesitated and he said, “I promise, I won’t hold you in contempt!” This got a big laugh out of all of Chris and Melissa’s guests 🙂 I was very grateful for him being so generous to my couple so that I could get them some amazing shots.

Later, I asked if there were any rules for shooting in the courthouse since it was an in operation government building with people coming and going doing their “court stuff”. They had absolutely no rules, so I was super excited to be able to shoot in the interior since it was so pretty. I ran back out and got the rest of my gear and then we spent about half an hour taking various portraits around the building.

Chris and Melissa, thank you so much for allowing me to capture your day and letting me mark something off my photography “bucket list”!